JP6809187B2 - Fuel storage system and its diagnostic method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a fuel storage system for diagnosing a failure of a check valve arranged in a passage filled with fuel from the outside and a method for diagnosing the check valve.

In order to reduce the number of high-pressure pipes installed in the fuel storage system, an outflow passage that allows hydrogen gas to flow into the tank from the outside and the hydrogen gas to flow out from the tank to the fuel cell, and an inflow passage that branches from the outflow passage to the tank A valve device including the above is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2009-168165

The valve device as described above is connected to a gas passage arranged between a filling port for filling the tank with fuel from the outside and an on-off valve for discharging the fuel of the tank to the internal device. In such a fuel storage system, a pressure sensor is often arranged in a portion of the gas passage to which the valve device is connected.

In such a case, it becomes difficult to detect whether or not a plurality of check valves provided for the gas passage upstream of the pressure sensor are out of order. As a countermeasure, it is conceivable to add a new pressure sensor upstream of the pressure sensor, but the manufacturing cost of the fuel storage system will increase.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a problem, and while reducing an increase in manufacturing cost, a failure of a check valve provided upstream of a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in a gas passage can be prevented. An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel storage system for diagnosis and a method for diagnosing the fuel storage system.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a fuel storage system that stores fuel gas supplied from an external device in a tank and releases the fuel gas to an internal device may release the fuel gas stored in the tank to the internal device. It includes an on-off valve that shuts off and a filling port for filling the tank with fuel gas from an external device. The fuel storage system includes a gas passage connecting the filling port and the on-off valve, a valve device connected to the gas passage to fill the tank with fuel gas and discharge the fuel gas from the tank, and the pressure of the gas passage. Includes a sensor to detect. Further, the fuel storage system includes a plurality of check valves provided in a gas passage located upstream of the sensor, and a controller that detects a filling operation for filling the tank with fuel gas via a filling port. The controller is provided with a controller that, when a filling operation is detected, diagnoses whether or not all of the plurality of check valves have failed based on the magnitude of the pressure detected by the sensor. It is a feature.

According to this aspect, it is possible to diagnose the failure of the check valve provided upstream of the sensor while suppressing the increase in the manufacturing cost of the fuel storage system.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example of a fuel cell system to which a fuel storage system according to the first embodiment of the present invention is connected. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the fuel storage system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a diagnostic method for diagnosing a failure of a check valve upstream of the pressure sensor in the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a diagnostic method of the fuel storage system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a method of diagnosing the fuel storage system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a fuel cell system 1 to which a fuel storage system 30 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is connected.

The fuel cell system 1 is a power supply system that supplies fuel gas and oxidant gas to the fuel cell stack 2 and generates electricity according to the load connected to the fuel cell stack 2. The fuel cell system 1 is mounted on a moving body such as a vehicle, an airplane, or a ship, for example.

The fuel cell system 1 in this embodiment is mounted on an electric vehicle including an electric motor. The fuel cell system 1 includes a fuel cell stack 2, a fuel supply / discharge device 3, an oxidant supply / discharge device 4, a controller 5, and a communication device 6.

The fuel cell stack 2 is a stack of a plurality of fuel cells, and generates electric power required by a load of an electric motor or the like for driving a vehicle. Examples of the fuel cell constituting the fuel cell stack 2 include a solid oxide fuel cell and a solid polymer fuel cell.

The fuel supply / discharge device 3 includes a fuel storage system 30, a fuel gas supply passage 31, a fuel pressure regulating valve 32, a purge passage 33, and a purge valve 34.

The fuel storage system 30 is connected to an external device that supplies fuel gas. Examples of the fuel gas include hydrogen gas. The external device of this embodiment is a hydrogen station that supplies hydrogen gas. The fuel storage system 30 stores hydrogen gas supplied from the hydrogen station via the filling port 310 in a high-pressure tank.

The fuel storage system 30 releases the stored hydrogen gas to the fuel cell system 1 corresponding to the internal device. The operation of the fuel storage system 30 is controlled by the controller 5. The details of the fuel storage system 30 will be described later with reference to the following figure.

The fuel gas supply passage 31 is a passage for supplying the fuel gas released from the fuel storage system 30 to the fuel cell stack 2. One end of the fuel gas supply passage 31 is connected to the fuel storage system 30, and the other end is connected to the fuel gas inlet hole of the fuel cell stack 2.

The fuel pressure regulating valve 32 is provided in the fuel gas supply passage 31. The fuel pressure regulating valve 32 adjusts the pressure of the fuel gas released from the fuel storage system 30 to a desired value and supplies it to the fuel cell stack 2. The fuel pressure regulating valve 32 is a solenoid valve whose opening degree can be adjusted continuously or stepwise, and the opening degree of the battery valve is controlled by the controller 5.

One end of the purge passage 33 is connected to the fuel gas outlet hole of the fuel cell stack 2, and the other end is connected to the oxidant supply / discharge device 4.

The purge valve 34 is provided in the purge passage 33. The purge valve 34 is a solenoid valve whose opening degree can be adjusted continuously or stepwise, and the opening degree of the solenoid valve is controlled by the controller 5.

The oxidant supply / discharge device 4 supplies the oxidant gas to the fuel cell stack 2 and discharges the oxidant gas discharged from the fuel cell stack 2 to the atmosphere. In this embodiment, air containing oxygen is used as the oxidant gas. The oxidant supply / discharge device 4 includes an oxidant gas supply passage 41, a compressor 42, an oxidant gas discharge passage 43, and an oxidant pressure regulating valve 44.

The oxidant gas supply passage 41 is a passage for supplying the oxidant gas sucked from the outside air to the fuel cell stack 2. One end of the oxidant gas supply passage 41 is connected to a passage communicating with the outside air, and the other end is connected to the oxidant gas inlet hole of the fuel cell stack 2.

The compressor 42 is provided in the oxidant gas supply passage 41. The compressor 42 of the present embodiment sucks air from one end of the oxidant gas supply passage 41 and supplies the air as the oxidant gas to the fuel cell stack 2. The torque of the compressor 42 is controlled by the controller 5.

The oxidant gas discharge passage 43 is a passage for discharging the oxidant gas discharged from the fuel cell stack 2 to the atmosphere. One end of the oxidant gas discharge passage 43 is connected to the oxidant gas outlet hole of the fuel cell stack 2, and the other end is formed at the open end.

The oxidant pressure regulating valve 44 is provided in the oxidant gas discharge passage 43. The oxidant pressure regulating valve 44 adjusts the pressure of the cathode electrode of the fuel cell stack 2 to a desired value required for power generation of the fuel cell. The oxidant pressure regulating valve 44 is a solenoid valve whose opening degree can be adjusted continuously or stepwise, and the opening degree of the battery valve is controlled by the controller 5.

The controller 5 is composed of a microcomputer provided with a central processing unit (CPU), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and an input / output interface (I / O interface).

Signals indicating the operating state of the fuel storage system 30 and signals from various sensors (not shown) are input to the controller 5. The controller 5 uses input signals from various sensors to maintain the concentration of hydrogen discharged from the fuel cell system 1 below a specified value, so that the fuel pressure regulating valve 32 and the purge valve 34, the compressor 42, and the oxidant are maintained. It controls the operation of the pressure regulating valve 44 and the like.

As various sensors, for example, a key sensor 51 that detects a start request and a stop request of the fuel cell system 1 according to an on / off switching operation of a start key provided in the vehicle, and a connection state of the filling port 310 are detected. There is an open / close sensor 52 and the like.

When the start key is turned on by the driver, the key sensor 51 outputs a start command signal for instructing execution of the start process of the fuel cell system 1 to the controller 5. Further, when the cover covering the periphery of the filling port 310 is opened, the open / close sensor 52 outputs an open signal indicating that the filling port 310 can be connected to the controller 5.

The communication device 6 is a communication device for executing a communication filling process performed between the hydrogen station and the controller 5. For example, when the filling hose of the hydrogen station is physically connected to the filling port 310, the communication device 6 transmits information indicating the operating state of the fuel storage system 30 to the hydrogen station. When the signal filling process by the hydrogen station is completed, the communication device 6 ends the communication with the hydrogen station.

The fuel supply / discharge device 3 of the present embodiment is a dead-end hydrogen supply / discharge device, but the fuel supply / discharge device 3 may be a circulation type hydrogen supply / discharge device.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the fuel storage system 30 in the present embodiment.

The fuel storage system 30 includes a filling port 310, high pressure tanks 311 and 312, a gas passage 320, valve devices 321 and 322, an on-off valve 330, a pressure sensor 340, and a check valve 352.

The filling port 310 is a filling port (receptacle) for filling the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 with the fuel gas supplied from the hydrogen station. The filling port 310 includes a check valve 351 that allows hydrogen gas from the hydrogen station to pass through and prevents the hydrogen gas from being released into the atmosphere due to backflow.

A filling hose of a hydrogen station is connected to the filling port 310 of the present embodiment. For example, the filling port 310 is formed in a concave shape on the side surface of the vehicle, and a cover covering the periphery of the filling port 310 is opened to connect the filling hose. The cover of the filling port 310 is provided with an opening / closing sensor 52 that detects the opening / closing of the filling port 310. When the cover is opened, the opening / closing sensor 52 indicates that the filling port 310 and the filling hose can be connected to each other. Is output to the controller 5.

Then, when the controller 5 receives the open signal, the controller 5 sends a signal to the hydrogen station via the communication device 6 that the filling communication process can be accepted, and displays the states such as the temperature and pressure of the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312. Send the tank information shown. The hydrogen station receives the acceptance signal of the filling communication process and the tank information, and when the filling hose is fitted into the filling port 310, it fills with high-pressure hydrogen gas compressed to about several tens of MPa (megapascals). It is supplied to the high pressure tanks 311 and 312 via the port 310.

The high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 are containers for storing hydrogen gas at high pressure.

The gas passage 320 is a passage connecting the filling port 310 and the on-off valve 330. The gas passage 320 passes the hydrogen gas supplied from the filling port 310 through the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312, and the hydrogen gas released from at least one of the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 is passed through the on-off valve 330 to the fuel gas supply passage 31. Pass through. That is, the gas passage 320 is a common passage that serves as both a filling passage for filling hydrogen gas and a discharge passage for discharging hydrogen gas by one passage.

The valve devices 321 and 322 are connected to the gas passage 320 formed upstream of the on-off valve 330, respectively. The valve device 321 is provided upstream of the valve device 322.

The valve device 321 fills the high-pressure tank 311 with hydrogen gas from the filling port 310, and discharges the filled hydrogen gas from the high-pressure tank 311 to the on-off valve 330. The valve device 322 fills the high-pressure tank 312 with hydrogen gas from the filling port 310, and discharges the filled hydrogen gas from the high-pressure tank 312 to the on-off valve 330.

The valve device 321 includes a check valve 321A and a shutoff valve 321B provided in parallel between the gas passage 320 and the high pressure tank 311. Further, the valve device 321 is provided with a pressure detection passage that communicates between the pressure sensor 340 and the gas passage 320.

The check valve 321A blocks the backflow of hydrogen gas while filling the hydrogen gas from the filling port 310.

The shutoff valve 321B opens the hydrogen gas filled in the high pressure tank 311 to the fuel cell system 1 via the gas passage 320 or shuts off the hydrogen gas. The opening and closing of the shutoff valve 321B is controlled by the controller 5.

The valve device 322 includes a check valve 322A and a shutoff valve 322B provided in parallel between the gas passage 320 and the high pressure tank 312. The check valve 322A and the shutoff valve 322B have the same configuration as the check valve 321A and the shutoff valve 321B.

The on-off valve 330 is a shutoff valve that opens or shuts off the hydrogen gas supplied from the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 to the fuel gas supply passage 31 via the shutoff valves 321B and 322B. The on-off valve 330 is controlled by the controller 5.

The pressure sensor 340 is provided in the gas passage 320 between the on-off valve 330 and the check valve 352. The pressure sensor 340 of this embodiment is provided in the valve device 321. The pressure sensor 340 detects the pressure in the gas passage 320. The pressure sensor 340 outputs a detection signal indicating the magnitude of the detected pressure to the controller 5.

The check valve 352 is provided in the gas passage 320 upstream of the valve device 321. For example, the check valve 352 plays a role of preventing the hydrogen gas filled in the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 from flowing out to the filling port 310 when the hydrogen gas is supplied to the fuel gas supply passage 31.

When the controller 5 receives an open signal indicating that the cover of the filling port 310 is in the open state from the open / close sensor 52, the controller 5 closes the open / close valve 330. This makes it possible to fill the high pressure tanks 311 and 312 with hydrogen gas from the filling hose of the hydrogen station via the filling port 310.

Further, when the controller 5 receives a vehicle start request from the key sensor 51, the shutoff valves 321B and 322B are opened, respectively, and then the on-off valve 330 is opened. When the controller 5 receives a vehicle stop request from the key sensor 51, the controller 5 closes the on-off valve 330, and then closes the shutoff valves 321B and 322B, respectively. The controller 5 also closes the on-off valve 330 when it detects a signal prohibiting the supply of hydrogen gas to the fuel cell system 1.

In the present embodiment, two check valves 351 and 352 are provided for the gas passage 320 upstream of the pressure sensor 340, but three or more check valves may be arranged. As a result, it is possible to prevent the hydrogen gas flowing through the gas passage 320 from being released from the filling port 310.

Next, the pressure fluctuation of the gas passage 320 when all the check valves 351 and 352 fail will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating fluctuations in the detection signal of the pressure sensor 340 during the communication filling process by the hydrogen station. In this example, the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time from the start of the communication filling process, and the vertical axis represents the detection value of the pressure sensor 340 that detects the pressure in the gas passage 320.

In FIG. 3, the pressure characteristics of the gas passage 320 when all of the check valves 351 and 352 have failed are shown by solid lines, and the elapsed time t1 when not all of the check valves 351 and 352 have failed. Subsequent pressure characteristics of the gas passage 320 are shown by broken lines.

First, when the cover of the filling port 310 is opened and the controller 5 receives the opening signal from the open / close sensor 52, it is estimated that the hydrogen filling operation is performed by the operator of the hydrogen station, and the detection signal output from the pressure sensor 340. To get. The hydrogen filling operation referred to here refers to an operation in which the filling hose of the hydrogen station is connected to the filling port 310 and the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 are filled with hydrogen gas via the filling port 310.

Further, when the controller 5 receives the open signal, it acquires the internal temperature, internal pressure, etc. of the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 from a sensor (not shown). Then, the controller 5 transmits the tank information indicating each of the acquired detected values and the signal indicating that the filling port 310 can be connected to the hydrogen station via the communication device 6.

After that, the controller 5 transmits the filling port information indicating that the hydrogen gas can be filled to the hydrogen station.

Next, when the hydrogen station receives tank information, filling port information, etc. from the controller 5, it determines whether or not the communication filling process can be executed based on the information, and if the communication filling process can be executed. The communication filling process is started.

At time t0, the hydrogen station shifts to the filling step of the communication filling process and supplies hydrogen gas to the high pressure tanks 311 and 312 via the filling port 310. Along with this, the pressure in the gas passage 320 gradually increases, so that the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 also gradually increases.

At time t1, when the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 rises to a predetermined value, for example, 70 MPa (megapascal), the hydrogen station ends the filling step and shifts to the depressurizing step. Along with this, the hydrogen station lowers the pressure of the hydrogen gas supplied to the filling port 310 so as to lower the pressure of the filling hose and make it easier to bend. At this time, if both the check valves 351 and 352 are not out of order, the hydrogen gas in the gas passage 320 is not released to the atmosphere, so that the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 decreases as shown by the broken line. Maintain a constant value without.

In this example, since both the check valves 351 and 352 are out of order, the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 decreases as shown by the solid line. At this time, the controller 5 determines whether or not the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 exceeds the leakage threshold value Th_l, and if the amount of decrease exceeds the leakage threshold value Th_l, the check valves 351 and 352 are all. Judge that it is out of order.

The above-mentioned leakage threshold value Th_l is predetermined in consideration of experimental data, simulation results, etc. so that it is not erroneously determined that all the check valves 351 and 352 are out of order in the filling process.

The controller 5 in this embodiment compares the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 up to a predetermined period, the amount of pressure decrease per unit time, and the like with the leakage threshold value Th_l. Then, when the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 is equal to or less than the leakage threshold value Th_l, the controller 5 determines that the check valve 351 or 352 has not failed.

As described above, the controller 5 of the present embodiment determines whether or not all the check valves 351 and 352 are out of order based on the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 during the execution of the communication filling process by the hydrogen station.

It is estimated that the controller 5 of the present embodiment performs the hydrogen filling operation when it receives an open signal indicating the open state of the filling port 310 from the open / close sensor 52. However, the method for determining whether or not the hydrogen filling operation is performed is not limited to this.

For example, the controller 5 may presume that the hydrogen filling operation (communication filling process) is performed when the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 rises by a predetermined amount. Alternatively, the controller 5 may presume that the communication filling process is performed when the filling port information indicating that the filling hose of the hydrogen station is connected to the filling port 310 is transmitted to the hydrogen station. As a result, since the execution period of the communication filling process is specified, it is possible to improve the diagnostic accuracy of whether or not all the check valves 351 and 352 are out of order.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the diagnostic method of the fuel storage system 30 in the present embodiment.

In step S901, the controller 5 acquires a detected value indicating the pressure of the gas passage 320 from the pressure sensor 340.

In step S902, the controller 5 determines whether or not a hydrogen filling operation has been detected. When the controller 5 of the present embodiment receives a detection signal indicating the open state of the filling port 310 from the open / close sensor 52, it determines that the hydrogen filling operation has been detected. The controller 5 repeats the processes of steps S901 and S902 until it detects a hydrogen filling operation.

The controller 5 determines whether or not the amount of increase in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 is larger than the predetermined value, and if the amount of increase exceeds the predetermined value, it is determined that the hydrogen filling operation has been detected. You may do so. The predetermined value is set so that the pressure increase of the gas passage 320 due to the hydrogen filling operation can be determined. Alternatively, the controller 5 may determine that the hydrogen filling operation has been detected when it is detected that the filling hose of the hydrogen station is fitted to the filling port 310.

In step S903, the controller 5 determines whether or not the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 exceeds the leakage threshold Th_l.

In step S904, when the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 exceeds the leakage threshold Th_l, the controller 5 determines that all of the check valves 351 and 352 upstream of the pressure sensor 340 have failed. The controller 5 of the present embodiment sets the failure determination flag to "1" when the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 exceeds the leakage threshold value Th_l.

In step S905, when the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 is equal to or less than the leakage threshold value Th_l, not all of the check valves 351 and 352 upstream of the pressure sensor 340 have failed. Is determined. That is, it is determined that at least one of the check valves 351 and 352 has not failed. The controller 5 of the present embodiment sets the failure determination flag to "0" when the amount of decrease in the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 is equal to or less than the leakage threshold value Th_l.

Then, when the processing of step S904 or S905 is completed, the controller 5 ends the processing procedure of the diagnostic method of the fuel storage system 30.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the fuel storage system 30 stores the fuel gas supplied from the hydrogen station constituting the external device in the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312, and the fuel gas constitutes the internal device. This is a system for supplying the fuel cell stack 2.

The fuel storage system 30 fills the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 with an on-off valve 330 that supplies or shuts off the fuel gas stored in the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 to the fuel cell stack 2 and fuel gas from the hydrogen station. A filling port 310 for the purpose is provided. Further, the fuel storage system 30 is connected to a gas passage 320 connecting between the filling port 310 and the on-off valve 330, and is connected to the gas passage 320 to fill the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 with fuel gas and charge the fuel gas to high pressure. It is provided with valve devices 321 and 322 for discharging from tanks 311 and 312.

Further, the fuel storage system 30 includes a pressure sensor 340 for detecting the pressure in the gas passage 320, and a plurality of check valves 351 and 352 provided in the gas passage 320 located upstream of the pressure sensor 340. Further, the fuel storage system 30 includes an open / close sensor 52 and a controller 5 as a filling detection means for detecting a filling operation of filling the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 with fuel gas via the filling port 310.

Then, when the filling operation is detected, the controller 5 diagnoses whether or not all of the plurality of check valves 351 and 352 have failed based on the magnitude of the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 340. ..

In this way, the controller 5 diagnoses the failure of the check valves 351 and 352 by using the detected values of the pressure sensors 340 downstream of the check valves 351 and 352 in the scene where the fuel gas filling operation is performed. be able to.

Therefore, since it is not necessary to newly provide a pressure sensor in the gas passage 320 between the check valve 351 and the check valve 352, the increase in the manufacturing cost of the fuel storage system 30 is reduced, and the pressure sensor 340 is more than the pressure sensor 340. Failure of the check valves 351 and 352 located upstream can be diagnosed.

Further, since the failure diagnosis of the check valves 351 and 352 is performed when the fuel gas filling operation is detected, as shown in FIG. 3, the pressure drop of the gas passage 320 in the depressurization step of the filling communication process is ensured. Can be detected. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a false diagnosis regarding the check valves 351 and 352.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the controller 5 determines whether or not the amount of decrease in pressure detected by the pressure sensor 340 is a predetermined value Th_l or more, and the amount of decrease is a predetermined value Th_l or more. In this case, it is determined that all of the plurality of check valves 351 and 352 are out of order. As shown in FIG. 3, when both the check valves 351 and 352 are out of order, the failure diagnosis is performed in a specific situation where the amount of pressure drop in the gas passage 320 becomes large. Therefore, the check valves 351 and 352 It becomes possible to accurately diagnose a failure.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the predetermined value is predetermined based on the amount of pressure drop due to the backflow of the fuel gas in the gas passage 320 to the hydrogen station. As a result, for example, a situation in which a slight pressure drop in the gas passage 320 that occurs when the fuel gas filling is switched from the high-pressure tank 311 to the other high-pressure tank 312 is erroneously determined as a failure of the check valves 351 and 352. Can be avoided.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the controller 5 detects whether or not the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 340 has increased as a filling operation. As shown in FIG. 3, since the pressure in the gas passage 320 rises in the communication filling process, it is possible to determine whether or not the filling operation has been performed by detecting the pressure rise in the gas passage 320.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the controller 5 detects whether or not a signal necessary for executing the communication filling process has been transmitted to the hydrogen station as a filling operation. As a result, the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 can be monitored (monitored) during the decompression process of the communication filling process, so that the failure diagnosis of the check valves 351 and 352 can be performed accurately.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the controller 5 detects whether or not the opening / closing sensor 52 has received an open signal indicating that the filling port 310 can be connected as a filling operation. In performing the filling operation, the cover of the filling port 310 is first opened so that the filling port 310 can be connected to the filling hose of the hydrogen station. Therefore, by monitoring the detected value of the pressure sensor 340 when the controller 5 receives the open signal, it is possible to perform a failure diagnosis in the depressurization step of the communication filling process.

When the cover of the filling port 310 is closed and a closing signal is input to the controller 5 from the open / close sensor 52, the controller 5 stops the failure diagnosis. As a result, unnecessary failure diagnosis processing can be reduced.

Further, according to the present embodiment, in the valve device 321, two passages are formed in parallel between the gas passage 320 and the high pressure tank 311, and the check valve 321A is connected to one passage and the other passage. The shutoff valve 321B is connected to. As a result, it is possible to perform two steps of filling the high-pressure tank 311 of the fuel gas by the check valve 321A and supplying the fuel gas to the fuel cell stack 2 by the shutoff valve 321B in one gas passage 320. become. Therefore, the number of gas passages arranged in the fuel storage system 30 can be reduced, and the fuel storage system 30 can be configured simply and at low cost.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure example of the diagnostic method of the fuel storage system 30 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The diagnostic method of the present embodiment includes the processes of steps S911 and S912 in addition to the processes S901 to S905 of the diagnostic method shown in FIG. Here, only the processing of steps S911 and S912 will be described.

In step S911, when the controller 5 determines in step S904 that all the check valves 351 and 532 upstream of the pressure sensor 340 have failed, the controller 5 executes a process of activating the vehicle equipped with the fuel storage system 30. Is prohibited. When the failure determination flag indicates "1", the controller 5 of the present embodiment switches the activation prohibition flag from "0" to "1".

When the start prohibition flag indicates "1", the controller 5 prohibits the execution of the start processing of the fuel cell system 1 even when the start request is received from the key sensor 51, for example. Further, when the start prohibition flag is switched to "1" during the execution of the start process of the fuel cell system 1, the controller 5 stops the execution of the start process.

Further, in step S912, when the failure determination flag indicates "0" in step S905, the controller 5 sets the start prohibition flag to "0" in order to permit the execution of the start process of the fuel cell system 1. .. Then, when the processing of step S911 or S912 is completed, the processing procedure of the diagnostic method of the present embodiment is completed.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, when the controller 5 determines that all of the plurality of check valves 351 and 352 provided in the gas passage 320 upstream of the pressure sensor 340 are out of order, It suppresses the start-up of the vehicle equipped with the fuel storage system 30.

As a result, when fuel gas is supplied from the high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 to the fuel cell system 1 via the gas passage 320, the fuel gas flowing through the gas passage 320 due to the failure of the check valves 351 and 352 is filled in the filling port 310. It is possible to avoid the situation where it is released to the atmosphere through.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above embodiments are only a part of the application examples of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is limited to the specific configurations of the above embodiments. Absent.

For example, in the above embodiment, the pressure sensor 340 is provided in the valve device 321. However, the pressure sensor 340 may be upstream of the on-off valve 330 and downstream of the check valves 351 and 352. Therefore, the pressure sensor 340 may be provided in the valve device 322 or may be provided between the valve device 321 and the valve device 322.

Further, in the above embodiment, two high-pressure tanks 311 and 312 are provided in the fuel storage system 30, but the number of high-pressure tanks may be one or three or more. If all the high-pressure tanks are connected to the gas passage 230 downstream of the check valve 352, the effects of the above embodiment can be obtained.

2 Fuel cell stack (internal device)
5 Controller 310 Fill port 311, 312 High pressure tank (tank)
320 Gas passage 321 and 322 Valve device 330 On-off valve 340 Pressure sensor (sensor)
351 and 352 check valves S901 (pressure detection step)
S902 (filling detection step)
S903 to S905 (diagnosis step)

Claims (8)

A fuel storage system that stores fuel gas supplied from an external device in a tank and releases the fuel gas to an internal device.
A filling port for filling the tank with fuel gas from the external device,
An on-off valve that releases or shuts off the fuel gas flowing out of the tank to the internal device,
A gas passage connecting the on-off valve and the filling port,
A valve device connected to the gas passage, filling the tank with fuel gas, and discharging the fuel gas from the tank.
A sensor that detects the pressure in the gas passage and
A plurality of check valves provided in the gas passage located upstream of the sensor,
A controller for detecting a filling operation of filling the tank with fuel gas via the filling port is provided.
It said controller, in a state where the filling operation is detected, the amount of decrease in pressure detected by the sensor in the case where more than the predetermined value, it is diagnosed that the plurality of check valves is faulty all A fuel storage system featuring. The fuel storage system according to claim 1 .
The predetermined value is predetermined based on the amount of pressure drop in the gas passage due to the backflow of fuel gas in the gas passage to the external device.
Fuel storage system. The fuel storage system according to claim 1 or 2 .
The fuel storage system is mounted on the vehicle and
When the controller determines that all of the plurality of check valves are out of order, the controller suppresses the start of the vehicle.
Fuel storage system. The fuel storage system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .
As the filling operation, the controller detects whether or not the pressure detected by the sensor has increased.
Fuel storage system. The fuel storage system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
As the filling operation, the controller detects whether or not a signal necessary for executing the communication filling process has been transmitted to the external device.
Fuel storage system. The fuel storage system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
As the filling operation, the controller detects whether or not a signal indicating a connectable state of the filling port has been received.
Fuel storage system. The fuel storage system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .
The valve device includes a check valve and a shutoff valve connected in parallel between the gas passage and the tank.
Fuel storage system. A filling port for filling the tank with fuel gas from the outside, an on-off valve provided in the gas passage through which the fuel gas flowing in from the filling port passes, and a valve connected to the gas passage upstream of the on-off valve. A method of diagnosing a fuel storage system including a device and a plurality of check valves provided in the gas passage upstream of the valve device.
A pressure detection step for detecting the pressure in the gas passage between the on-off valve and the valve device,
A filling detection step for detecting a filling operation of filling the tank with fuel gas,
A diagnostic step for diagnosing that all of the plurality of check valves have failed when the amount of pressure decrease detected in the pressure detection step is equal to or greater than a predetermined value in a state where the filling operation is detected. When,
A method of diagnosing a fuel storage system, characterized in that it comprises.

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